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The Season of Birth of Schizophrenic, Neurotic and Psychiatrically Normal Twins

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Kenneth S. Kendler
Kenneth S. Kendler*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Schizophrenia Biologic Research Centre, Bronx Veteran's Administration Medical Center, 130 W. Kingsbridge Rd, Bronx, NY 10468 and Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Mt Sinai School of Medicine, NY, NY
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Summary

The quarter of birth of 536 schizophrenic, 1,991 neurotic and 12,085 psychiatrically normal twin pairs from the National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council Twin Registry was compared. When either all twin pairs, or only monozygotic or dizygotic twin pairs, were considered, no significant differences were found in the quarter of birth between the 3 groups. No difference in quarter of birth was found for twin pairs concordant versus discordant for schizophrenia. Despite the increased risk for intrauterine and perinatal complications in twin births, schizophrenic twins appear (at least) to be no more vulnerable than schizophrenic singletons to the seasonal gestation and birth-related insults which probably underlie the seasonality in schizophrenic births. Controlling for season of birth probably has little effect on the results of twin studies of schizophrenia.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 141 , Issue 2 , August 1982 , pp. 186 - 190
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1982 

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